All the samurai let out a bold and powerful cry as they followed after Dijon. Each and every one of them rushed forth in valor, never a one was afraid of the mighty demon. Regardless of friends or enemies, these samurai were undeniably brave men!
Lily also took this chance to go after Nagahide. This was still an inappropriate time to make her escape. She had to wait for a greater chance, it would be best if both the demon and Dijon were gravely wounded, then nobody would pay any attention to her at that time.
As soon as they left the camp, a gust of wind with dense miasma blew over from the deep forest. It caused Lily to tremble involuntarily. As she looked at all the battle-ready samurai in front of her, they were all in battle formation and waiting for the beast to show up.
But still, no signs of movements could be detected from the quiet mountain woods.
Nagahide’s group arrived at Lily’s side, then he advised, “Miss Kagami, if the Demon Hound shows up later, weaklings like us just need to stay on guard. You must not rush out by any means. If the small demons attacked the group from the side or rear, we will handle it ourselves. Miss Kagami isn’t a part of our Hojo clan, you just need to guarantee your own safety and isn’t required to join the fight.”
Lily nodded in silence, “I- I got it… Master Matsuda, please take care of yourself too.”
“Arwoooooooooooooo—” The long howl resounded once more. Following that, the howls of many wolves rang out all around the foggy mountain woods like it was an echo.
“Arwoooo— woooo— wooooooo—!”
The trees swayed eerily and black clouds blocked the moonlight, causing the listeners to feel their blood run cold.
And just as suddenly, an uproar occurred in the frontline.
From this distance, they could see one black shadow after another jumping down from the mountain woods.
“It’s a pack of wolves!”1
Those weren’t any normal wolves, they were a monster called “Specter Wolf”. It was said that a wolf was required to devour the soul of a child to evolve into this monster. They were mostly around the level of Low-Rank+ or Superior Low-Rank at best. However, with how numerous they were, the brigade was to be surrounded from all directions in a short while.2
Their numbers also signified that an equal amount of innocent children’s souls had been devoured. The picturesque mountain view now looked so dark that it made one’s hair stand up!3
Lily could be said to have ample experience with monster subjugation already, even the majority of the samurai couldn’t claim to have killed as many monsters in their entire lives as Lily had hunted in just this past month. However, this was the first time she was caught up in a clash between a large group of samurai and monsters. Even though she was standing far behind the front line, this was an experience she had never had before.
A dozen or so meters ahead, the flickering shadows cast by the bonfire illuminated the bloody massacre that was to take place.
Lily felt a little lost to be ensnared in the heart of this face-off.
She acted just like a genuine novice and looked all around vacantly with her sword drawn. Seven tenths of her act was real since Lily was never good at team battle.
And this natural reaction was noticed by Dijon, who was secretly observing her while commanding the troops. It helped alleviate some of his suspicion of Lily. Likely this was indeed her first time experiencing this kind of battle. Her puzzled appearance looked just that of a new recruit. There was no sign that indicated her as an expert who was hiding her true strength. No matter how suspicious this woman was, Lily couldn’t be the murderer if she didn’t have enough strength. Dijon was actually still quite fond of Lily, if she was the murderer, then he naturally had to execute her with the cruelest method imaginable. But if she wasn’t, then, of course, he wouldn’t need to kill her anymore. That would be such a huge waste.
The samurai let out a battle cry as the wolf pack charged into their formation. One Specter Wolf fell after another, but there were also many samurai who were wounded. It was only a matter of time before some samurai would get pushed down by multiple wolves and torn apart.
Dijon had yet to take action!
Around him were eight famed Hojo samurai headed by Nagasaki; six Low-Tier Kengo and two Mid-Tier Kengo. They lifted their katanas and broke into the formation to cut down the wolf pack, blood splattered everywhere they went!
There was also a middle-aged samurai with a high braided ponytail. He had dauntless facial features, with one eye covered by eye-patch. Moreover, he was well-built despite being medium-sized! His only eye was flickering with a thug-like glint.
That man was none other than the Chief Swordsmanship Instructor of the Hojo clan, Ryumori4 Munesaki. This hidden expert, Munesaki, was a man of few words and had strength equivalent to High-Tier Kensei! He was ranked top five in the Hojo clan! Due to his age, he was unable to carve his name in the Eastern Nation’s Six Swords, but with his power, experience, and Illusory Flow Swordstyle5 combined, he wasn’t necessarily any weaker than Dijon.
All of a sudden, from within the densely packed wolf pack, a few canine monsters jumped out and gave Lily a really bad feeling. These monsters seemed to be moving separately from the wolf pack. They rushed to the center of the formation from all over the place. These canine monsters possessed the face of an ugly middle-aged man, each uttering muffled words from their mouth, “Mirror… mirror…”6
However, these wild canine monsters weren’t that strong. Their speed was nothing to write home with either. They were dealt with soon after breaking into the formation. Powerful resentment was set into the atmosphere the moment they were killed.
If someone were to observe in the sky, they would be able to tell all of these canine monsters were heading towards the same direction; and that’s where Lily was stationed.
However, because of the chaotic melee, no one noticed this fact. The only one who felt anything was Lily. She touched her lower abdomen to make sure the mirror didn’t slip. It would appear that only these wild canines with a human face could “smell” the mirror. It was fortunate that they were few in numbers and were killed in the chaotic melee before they had a chance to get close.
They could sniff out the mirror huh? But why would the monsters want this old and normal looking mirror for? And yet human samurai like the Hojo, etc. were completely ignorant of it.
This mirror had accompanied Lily ever since she came to this otherworld. On the outside, it could be used to reflect the beautiful face of her senior sister. And on the inside was where her dearest person was slumbering!
‘Nobody is allowed to snatch this from me!’ Lily lightly pressed against her lower abdomen with her taut hand.
References
Robinxen: Lol Silva originally put “herd of wolves”
Robinxen: How many kids could there possibly be to eat in this mountain?!
Robinxen: No seriously, someone tell me how there are so many kids on this mountain! Even Lily had to put effort in to get there!
Truth be told, this is actually the same surname as Shiu and should be translated as Yagyu (柳生), I don’t know how Sigma came up with Ryumori, but since we went along with it, might as well just stick with it.
Previously translated by Sigma as Yin Torrent Swordstyle (as literal as it could get), corrected it to Illusory Flow since he shared the same surname as Shiu and she’s a ninja… so I think it fits? Maybe? Hopefully?
Silva: Oh snap.
Robinxen: “On the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Wait what do you mean, wrong story?
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